Garn once boasted five great kingdoms - until Ithrace was betrayed. Its royal family, the flame- haired Firemanes, was not saved even by its affinity with fire: every one of them was executed by the King of Sandura. Now four kingdoms remain, out of balance and on the brink of war. But there are whispers that a newborn Ithraci heir may have been smuggled away... Terrified, the four kings place a bounty on the child's head, lest the boy grow up with revenge in his heart.
Declan is a gifted apprentice to a master blacksmith in a peaceful village learning an ancient craft - until slavers descend to capture men to press as soldiers for Sandura, forcing him to run for his life, carrying with him his priceless knowledge of the forging of jewel-steel.
On the secret island domain of the Quelli Nascosti assassins, three young friends are being schooled in the arts of espionage and killing: Donte, son of a senior master; Hava, a fierce girl and gifted fighter; and Hatu, a strange, conflicted boy in whom fury and calm war constantly, whose hair is a bright and fiery shade of red...
